Telephone jack receptacle



June 2, 1970 J. H. GAINES ETA!- 3,516,045

TELEPHONE JACK RECEPTACLE Filed 001' 10, 1966 I I; 0 20 2(- f3 I IG. 4. g;

as K. BOUEHENNE United States Patent US. Cl. 339-125 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A telephone jack receptacle body contains two pairs of diflerentially spaced plug prong-passing openings and cavities alined with the opening and containing spaced prOng contacts and associated binder screws to which wire leads pass between the body and its cover. The body may be integrated with a wall plate.

This invention has to do generally with electrical plug receptacles, and is directed particularly to improvements in telephone jack receptacles adapted to receive the terminals of four conductor plugs in accordance with telephone system circuitry.

As a general object the invention contemplates an improved receptacle characterized by having a non-conductive body containing four differentially spaced cavities which individually contain blade type contacts adapted to receive plug terminals or prongs. The receptacle may be regarded as having a contact-containing body section and a cover section, the latter being apertured for accommodation of inset, and therefore protected, fasteners such as binding screws for attachment to the contacts of wires entering the receptacle between the body and cover sections.

As will appear, the invention particularly provided for relative variation of the blade orientations of adjacent contacts, as well as for shouldered support of the contacts within the body cavities.

Further and important objects of the invention relate to the mounting of receptacles as characterized in the foregoing. In this respect the invention is adaptable for either strap or wall plate mounting of the receptacle.

For purposes of strap mounting the invention contemplates formation of the receptacle body externally for accommodation within a mounting strap opening and in inset relation to the strap, wherein the body is retained by a deflected portion of the strap.

The invention further contemplates a variational form which mounts the receptacle directly to a wall plate by unitized molding of the receptacle body with the inside of the plate. In this manner, and where permissible, the unitized plate and receptacle may be employed to the elimination of strap or like mountings normally required in addition to or independently of wall plates.

The above features and objects of the invention will be developed and more fully explained in the following detailed description of certain illustrative embodiments shown by the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing the receptacle in perspective elevation;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cover section and elevation of the receptacle;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3 showing the inner main body face with the cover section removed;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section on line 5-5 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a view generally similar to FIG. 3 illustrating a variational form of the invention.

Patented June 2, 1970 ice The receptacle may be regarded generally as comprising a non-conductive molded plastic body 10 having a main or contact-receiving section 10a and a cover section 10b, the sections being releasably interconnected by screw 11 as will later appear. The form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, being adaptable for strap mounting, is shaped to provide an integral molded peripheral flange 12 with integral projections or ribs 13, both inset from the closed end 100 of the body which contains openings 14 arranged in differentially spaced pairs for registry with the prongs of a telephone jack plug, not shown. As more particularly dealt with in our co-pending application referred to hereinabove, the body configuration adapts the receptacle for mounting by a strap S as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 3, the strap having flanges 15 to be engaged by opposite shoulders 16 of the flange 12, other portions 17 and 18 of the strap being adapted to overlie shoulders 19 of the ribs 13 to lock the receptacle to the strap. The latter may be mounted in any conventional manner as within a junction box for accommodation of the exposed end 10c of the receptacle within opening 20 of a wall or face plate indicated by the broken lines at 21.

The present invention is more particularly concerned with the internal body and contact configurations as particularly illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4. The body section 10a is shown to contain cavities 22 differentially spaced in accordance with the openings 14, each cavity containing an opposed resiliently deflectable conductive blade contact generally indicated at 23. In FIG. 4 the contacts are removed from the cavities 22 at the right in order to expose the cavity configurations. As illustrated, the cavities are rectangular in cross section with the long dimensions of cavities 22a alternated at degrees in relation to the alternate cavities 22b. The opposite longer sides of each cavity carry integrally molded contact indexing ribs 24 in an axial plane of the corresponding opening 14, and as the long dimensions of the cavities are alternated, the ribs 24 are correspondingly alternated as clearly appears in FIG. 4. The mouth of each cavity 22 is recessed to present contact bearing shoulders 25 directly at the outsides of ribs 24.

The contact 23 received in each of the cavities 22 has opposed resilient blades 26 with flared terminals 27 at opposite sides of the prong-passing opening 14, the blades extending convergently from an interconnecting bridge 28 having a central threaded aperture 29 to receive a wire terminal binding screw 30. The contact blades 26 may be slotted at 31 for detenting retention of terminally recessed or upset jack prongs.

The described alternating relation of ribs 24 index and require corresponding alteration of the contacts 23 so that successive or adjacent contacts have their blades 26 at relative 90 degree orientation, thus to correspondingly distribute the directions of blade contact pressure against the jack prongs and thus enhance retention of the plug within the receptacle. As best appearing at the bottom in FIG. 3 and at the left in FIG. 4, the bridge portion 28 of each contact 23 has opposed flanges or tongues 32 hearing against body shoulders 25 to limit and define the inserted positions of the contacts.

The cover section 10b is provided with openings 33 spaced in accordance with the cavities 22 and indexed for axial alignment therewith as by providing the cover section with a lug 34 received within the body opening 35 as shown in FIG. 5. Four lateral openings 36 in the cover section 10b and leading tangentially into openings 33, receive the insulated lead terminals 37 from which the bared wire terminals 38 are brought about screws 30 for tightening and confinement against the contacts. After pre-assemblage of the contacts and lead wires, and fitting them into the cover section recesses and openings 36 and 33, the contacts are inserted into the body in the described relative orientations and the body sections are interconnected by screw 11 threaded into the central body boss 39 to tightened condition at which the screw head shoulders against the cover counterbore shoulder 40 as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates a variational form of the invention differing from the described embodiment in that here, instead of being strap-mounted, the receptacle body section 41 is molded integrally with wall plate 42. Except in the elimination of flange 12 and ribs 13, and passage of openings 43 (corresponding to openings 14) through the face plate into receptacle body cavities 22, the receptacle construction is as before and the same parts are given corresponding reference numerals.

We claim:

1. A telephone jack receptacle comprising a non-conductive body having an outside containing two pairs of differentially spaced openings adapted to pass corresponding plug prongs into the body, the inside of the body containing four prong-receiving cavities respectively aligned with said openings, a unitized contact within each of said cavities including spaced prong receiving blades and a wire binder screw at the open end of the cavity, a non-conductive cover secured to the inside face of the body and having openings which receive the screw heads inset from the face of the cover, means forming recesses between the body and cover for passing four wires respectively to said binder screws, the walls of said cavities carrying projections which enter between the individual contact blades and said walls present inset shoulders engageable by the contacts to limit their cavity entry, said projections within any two cavities at any side of the body being disposed so as to position the contact blades at relative ninety degree angularity within the two cavities,

said cover having projections received within openings in 4 ing plug prongs into the body, the inside of the body containing four prong-receiving cavities respectively aligned with said openings, a unitized contact within each of said cavities including spaced prong receiving blades and a wire binder screw at the open end of the cavity, a nonconductive cover secured to the inside face of the body and having openings which receive the screw heads in set from the face of the cover, means forming recesses between the body and cover for passing four wires respectively to said binder screws, the walls of said cavities carrying projections which enter between the individual contact blades and said walls present inset shoulders engageable by the contacts to limit their cavity entry, said projections within any two cavities at any side of the body being disposed so as to position the contact blades at relative ninety degree angularity within the two cavities, said cover having projections received within openings in the body for alinement of the cover openings with said screw heads, said body being substantially square and made of molded plastic composition, the outside of the body being formed by the interior area of an integrally molded wall plate containing the first mentioned openings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 886,267 4/1908 Stewart 339-133 1,321,880 11/1919 Benjamin 3392-71 1,633,668 6/1927 vIle 339206 X 2,307,972 1/ 1943 Strunk 339185 2,888,660 5/1959 Fox 339110 2,920,303 1/1960 Johnson 339-97 2,950,457 8/1960 Slater 339192 X 3,273,105 9/1966 Klassen 339210 X FOREIGN PATENTS 899,807 12/ 1953 Germany.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

